Submarines

Russian president Vladimir Putin is a man of many things. I don’t agree with a lot of his political policies or ideological positions, but I do appreciate the fact that he is an avid underwater adventurer. Recently, dear ‘ol Vlad took some time out of his presumably busy schedule to get inside a C-Explorer 3, a mini submarine or as it’s more technically known, a luxury personal submersible.

Reports say that Putin went underwater to
investigate a 10th century shipwreck off the coast of the Crimea at Sevastapol. In case the place rings any bells, it’s the same region that Russia controversially annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Oh, Vlad, ever the showman,
flaunting Mother Russia’s might and rubbing it all under our noses under the guise of an “underwater exploration.”

There’s a part of me that thinks that this is just another publicity stunt orchestrated by the Kremlin to mask some real and deep-seated issues in Russia these days. But another part of me thinks that this is just Putin being Putin. After all, this is the same man who does have an affinity for diving, including similar explorations back in 2009 and 2013.

Personally, I don’t really care about Putin’s perceived sincerity with this particular dive. I just got excited seeing the C-Explorer 3 in action. I’ve never been in one, but I know that it can dive down as much as 100 to 1,000 meters, giving passengers one of the most breathtaking views of the ocean life in those depths.

I’ll admit it: riding a C-Explorer 3 is in my bucket list. Before my time comes, I’d like to experience it at least once. Then again, I’m not the president of Russia so unless I have the scratch to arrange for a ride, this might be the closest I’m going to get to one.